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EU urges impartiality after Georgia ex-PM's arrest

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday called for fair and impartial treatment of Georgia's former prime minister Vano Merabishvili, arrested the previous day on corruption charges. Ashton and the EU's enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said they took "careful note" of the detention of the former premier and his onetime health minister Zurab Chiaberashvili, the most prominent arrests so far in a slew of investigations against top allies of embattled President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Georgia arrests former PM on graft charges

Georgian authorities have detained former prime minister Vano Merabishvili on corruption charges, the most prominent figure to be arrested yet in a slew of investigations against top allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors in the region of Georgia's second largest city Kutaisi said that Merabishvili and former health minister Zurab Chiaberashvili were being held in a case involving the alleged fictitious employment of party workers.

US backs Georgia bid to join NATO, EU

The United States on Wednesday endorsed the former Soviet republic of Georgia's democratic reforms and bid to join NATO and the EU, amid a power struggle between its president and prime minister. US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed this support at a press conference with the visiting Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili. "We are very supportive of Georgia's aspirations with respect to NATO and to Europe. And we applaud the democratic transition that has been taking place," said Kerry.

US VP Biden meets president of Georgia

US Vice President Joe Biden met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to discuss democratic and economic reforms in that Caucasus nation, the White House said late Friday. Biden met Saakashvili at the Sedona Forum, an annual event organized by the McCain Institute at the Arizona State University in Sedona, Arizona, named after Republican US Senator John McCain.

Georgia's Saakashvili holds out olive branch to prime minister

By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili held out an olive branch to Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili on Friday, proposing an end to months of friction that threatens stability in the former Soviet republic. Saakashvili struck a conciliatory tone in remarks to thousands of supporters at their first big rally since his party was swept from power by Ivanishvili's opposition movement in a parliamentary election last October.

Thousands rally in Georgia for Saakashvili

Over 10,000 supporters of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took to the streets in the capital Friday in a first mass rally since his party's defeat at parliamentary elections last year. Waving Georgia's national banners and the European Union flags, and shouting Saakashvili's name, supporters of his United National Movement (UNM) party filled Tbilisi's central Rustaveli Avenue where the leader delivered a flamboyant speech. "We came here to defend our dignity and our motherland," Saakashvili told the applauding crowd. "I will fight for you until the end of my life!"

Thousands rally in Georgia for Saakashvili

Over 10,000 supporters of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took to the streets in the capital Friday in a first mass rally since his party's defeat at parliamentary elections last year. Waving Georgia's national banners and the European Union flags, and shouting Saakashvili's name, supporters of his United National Movement (UNM) party filled Tbilisi's central Rustaveli Avenue where the leader delivered a flamboyant speech. "We came here to defend our dignity and our motherland," Saakashvili told the applauding crowd. "I will fight for you until the end of my life!"

Masters underground economy enjoying upswing

By Steve Keating AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - A recovering marketplace and an improving Tiger Woods have given a boost to the Masters underground economy that operates just outside the walls of the world's most exclusive golf club. Washington Road is the Masters bazaar, an unappealing four-lane corridor of strip malls, gas stations, fast food joints and budget hotels that runs straight past the picturesque Magnolia Lane, the short road leading to the Augusta National clubhouse.

Saakashvili Refuses Cooperating with S.Ossetia Investigation

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he would not be cooperating with an investigation into actions of the Georgian authorities during a brief war with Russia over its breakaway republic of South Ossetia in 2008. Georgia’s new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said on Wednesday that the previous Georgian government acted inadequately in regard to South Ossetia. He added that Saakashvili could be questioned on the issue.

Zombie television show turns Georgia town into tourism hub

Frank Hollberg III, whose family has sold furniture in Senoia, Georgia since 1894, laughed as he recalled the odd sight of watching a man walk through the idyllic downtown holding a head in his hand. The head was a prop and the man an actor filming "The Walking Dead," the hit zombie-themed television series that has drawn millions of fans worldwide and helped turn the small town 25 miles south of Atlanta into a thriving tourist attraction. Senoia, pronounced "Seh-noy" by its 3,300 residents, had seen its fortunes fade after the local cotton and agricultural industries died off.
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